Welcome to part two of our Dark Web series. In part one, we discussed “The Dark Web: What Is It? And Why You Should Care.” In part two, we are going to delve into how your business is affected.
Even without direct interaction with The Dark Web, companies need to be alert about their exposure to it. Hundreds of millions of accounts are compromised every year in data breaches through email phishing, malware, and other types of attacks. More than 11.6 billion records have been breached since 2005, according to a running tally by California-based nonprofit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
So how will the dark web affect your business?
A breach associated with Dark Web transactions can lead to:
Lost Revenue $$$ – Significant revenue loss as a result of a security breach is common. Studies show that 29% of businesses that face a data breach end up losing revenue. Of those that lost revenue, 38% experienced a loss of 20% or more!
Damage to Brand Reputation – A security breach can impact much more than just your short-term revenue. The long-term reputation of your brand is at stake as well. Your customers value their privacy — and breaches often involve customer payment information. Potential leads will be hesitant to trust a business with a history of inferior data security.
Loss of Intellectual Property – Hackers don’t only target user information, they look for designs, strategies, and blueprints. Small business is the biggest target, consisting of 60% of breaches.
Hidden Costs – This may include legal fees or regulatory fines that businesses often overlook.
With media attention on data breaches impacting millions, it’s easy to think a small business is not at risk. However, bad actors don’t target a business for its size…they look for ease of access. Read examples here of how breaches have tarnished a company brand.
Dark Web information is up to twenty times more likely to come from an unreported breach. As long as there is a demand for stolen goods, cybercriminals will continue launching attacks against small businesses for data that will return a profit for them and ruin you.
Preparing yourself for the threat of attack and taking proper preventative measures is the best way to ensure your business doesn’t fall victim to a cyber breach.
The Top 5 Methods to Prevent Cyber Attacks
Educate – Require security awareness training for your staff, which allows for continual education when it comes to creating awareness and smart cyber habits. This first line of defense gives employees the ability to analyze emails from outside sources and is a great way to train them on red flags.
Prevent – Proactive Monitoring of stolen or compromised data is something that allows you to respond to a threat immediately to prevent a major breach.
Report – Have the ability to report what has been done. With tens of thousands of compromised email addresses happening daily, you need to have the proper reporting in place to track and triage incidents.
Monitor 24/7/365 – Have a tool to ferret out information from hidden chat rooms, private websites, black market sites, botnets, and social media platforms.
Predict – See industry patterns long before they become trends. Intelligence to keep you and your employees protected.
How can Optistar help?
At Optistar, we offer each of these services mentioned above, which will absolutely keep you ahead of the curve. We encourage you to sign up for a FREE 45-day trial of our Security Awareness Training with our Dark Web Monitoring Cyber Security Bundle!
Bolster your first line of defense, your employees, and ensure they are educated on the many network security threats that exist as well as new emerging threats, keeping security top of mind. Additionally, as part of this trial offer, Optistar will monitor your business credentials to make sure your data is not for sale on The Dark Web!
If you would like to learn more about protecting your business or if you need assistance setting up defenses, schedule a free 15-minute consultation with one of our Senior IT Consultants. Call us at 888.782.7003 or email ask@optistartech.com.
We encourage you and your staff to sign up for our FREE Cybersecurity Tips which include information like this, emailed once a week, in order to spread cybersecurity awareness. Any one of these tips can easily save you from becoming a victim of a cyber-crime!